Knowledge of God's existence Flashcards
3.1 Knowledge of God’s existence
It is important for theology to make sure that we are sure of what we mean when we say we ‘know’ God. A major part is to work out how we get that knowledge and how valid the different ways are of getting that knowledge. The two ways of understanding how we know and understand God are natural theology and revealed theology.
3.2 Natural knowledge of God’s existence
In natural theology, the thinker tries to use reason and experience to understand God’s nature and God’s existence. The idea is that there is a point of contact between God and humans that can be discovered when analysing things around us.
In Romans 1:18-21, Paul says that the people could have known God by understanding that creation tells us about God’s invisible nature- they simply needed to think properly. This makes the point that it is possible to use the tools we have around us to come to conclusions about God.
Innate human sense of the divine
The Roman Catholic Church says that ‘the desire for God is written in the human heart’ suggesting that imprinted in each person is a basic sense of God that gives them the capacity and desire to know God.
The protestant reformer John Calvin said that all people have an innate sensus divinitas that makes it possible for anyone to know God.
Calvin though that people are not fully aware of the sensus divinitas because they are confused by sin- it is sin, through human free choice, that makes people unable to sometimes recognise God.
Three examples of how human experience the sensus divinitas.
1) THE CONSCIENCE - the feeling of guilt that we have inside us when we do something wrong is a voice that provides innate evidence that God exists. This suggests that humans are open to understanding goodness as an aspect of God. Calvin said that conscience is a capacity given by God and is the human response to God.
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2) HUMANS AWARENESS OF BEAUTY- the Roman Catholic Church states that appreciation of aesthetics helps people to understand God’s existence. We can use our reason to interpret this experience to understand that God is working in the world. We can use our reason to learn about God and God’s nature.
3) REASON- what sets humans apart from the rest of the world is our intellectual ability- our powers of reason. This reason can help us reflect on what we see around us, such as the nature of objects, natural laws, as well as the fine-tuned design of the world to recognise God’s existence. EXAMPLE =Thomas Aquinas is one of the most famous thinkers to use reason to justify the existence of God in his Five Ways, theologians often argue that put together the Five Ways provide significant evidence that there is a God.
Natural knowledge of God’s existence through the order of creation
Reflecting on the beauty of creation is a way of us experiencing something that leads us to God. Calvin sees the idea of the beauty of the earth as being like a mirror of God, reflecting his nature through the world-this is a bit like Paul’s argument in Romans 1.
The orderliness of the universe seems to show a higher purpose behind it and even modern views about evolution can be helped by suggesting that there is a force controlling the progress of evolution. Natural theology therefore does not need to be limited to pre-twentieth century understandings of the world. Calvin spoke of the ‘principle of accommodation’, which is the idea that God, despite being unknowable, has communicated with humans in ways they will understand and in ways they can work out.
Strengths of natural theology
- Natural theology works in a way that we are used to. It is normal for humans to use their brains to reason.
- Furthermore, there is a long tradition, both within Christianity and outside of it, that shows people using reason to show that God exists.
- It is reasonable to suggest that the sheer number of people who have has some sort of faith suggest that there is a point of contact between God and humans.
- It is reasonable to believe that a God who lovingly created human would have made some way for those humans to have contact with him.
- Appreciation of awe and wonder take us beyond the physical and the feelings we experience seem to be on a different level to material things- this might point toward a God that can be known from earthly things.
Weaknesses
- Is the gap between humans and God just too big for sensus divinitas.
- Is natural theology of any use if we cannot gain personal knowledge of God: knowing God should lead people to a relationship with him?
- Many people use their reason to come up with other conclusions including that God does not exist, so perhaps reason is not helpful and is too subjective.
- Order and purpose, in nature can perhaps be explained by other factors, such as natural selection in the theory of evolution.
- Just because beauty makes us feel awe it does not mean that God has made this feeling.
3.3 Revealed knowledge of God’s existence
Revealed theology looks at things the other way around to natural theology. Revealed theology looks at what God has deliberately revealed to people. For Christians, the essentials of their faith have been given by God through revelation. Revelation can be understood both in direct terms (when God reveals himself directly to a person or a group of people) and in indirect terms (when God reveals himself via another source- a person, or perhaps the Bible.)
Revelation through faith and God’s grace
Christians do not believe that natural theology alone is enough to gain full knowledge of God because humans are sinful and because human intellect is finite or limited.
